Born in Hull, he was educated at Kelvin Hall High School, but he left early to pursue his
football career, which had seen him playing for local clubs Springhead and National Tigers,
by studying at the F.A. School of Excellence. He was pursued by several clubs, but chose
Tottenham Hotspur and duly signed for them on 9th April 1991. He established himself in the
Spurs first team in 1992-93, when still only eighteen, and was soon recognised as a future
England player. It was while at White Hart Lane that he made his England breakthrough in 1995,
when former Spurs boss, Terry Venables brought him on as a substitute against Uruguay. He had
already been capped by England at Schoolboy, Youth, four times at Under-Twenty-One and twice
at “B” levels. However, the midfielder's international career never really took off, despite
scoring three goals in ten games, and it wasn't until five years later that Kevin Keegan
brought him back into the squad full-time. In the meantime, Barmby had moved to Premiership
yo-yo club Middlesbrough for £5.25million on 8th August 1995, after scoring twenty-one goals,
including one from the penalty spot, in eighty-three starts and six games from the bench in
League games, five goals in twelve starts and one substitute appearance in the F.A. Cup and
twice in seven starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup while at White Hart Lane.
The fee shattered the Middlesbrough transfer record by around £4,000,000, when they paid
£5,250,000 and Barmby repaid his Manager Bryan Robson’s faith in him with a string of
brilliant performances that sealed his place in the England squad and helped Boro reach the
upper echelons of the EPL. His most memorable display was probably against Chelsea in the
first-ever game at the Riverside, when his telepathic understanding with Craig Hignett helped
Boro claim a deserved 2-0 win. Several months into the campaign, Juninho was unveiled and
Barmby suddenly found he was no longer the centre of attention. Not only were there two
international class footballers, but they played in the same position. His position in the
side became less and less tenable, and he was eventually sold to Everton for £5,750,000 on
2nd November 1996. At the Riverside he scored eight goals in forty-two League games, once in
three F.A. Cup ties and once in four League Cup appearances, before the Everton took him to
Goodison Park after fourteen months at the Riverside. At Goodison he was part of a team that
were struggling to avoid relegation and he too sometimes struggled with injuries, particularly
in the 1998-99 season. He scored eighteen times in one hundred and five starts and eleven
games from the bench, three goals in twelve F.A. Cup ties and three goals in two starts and
three games from the bench in the League Cup before he moved to Liverpool for a fee of
£6 million on 19th July 2000. Sven Goran Eriksson elected to play him against Spain in February
2001 and Barmby repaid his new manager with the opening goal as England went on to win 3-0 and
give Eriksson a victorious debut. He also played in England's historic 5-1 away victory over
rivals Germany and seemed the answer to England’s left midfield problem. His fine performances
for Liverpool, both domestically and in Europe, kept him in the England frame. Unfortunately
Barmby missed the last two months of the 2000-01 season, when Liverpool played three cup finals,
FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup, through injury. He returned for the start of the 2001-02
season, picking up a Charity Shield Medal, and being immediately brought back into Eriksson's
plans, but again injury would blight his season. Barmby was ruled out in mid-October, and
would only make three more appearances over the remainder of the season. As Liverpool
strengthened for the 2002-03 campaign, Barmby moved to Leeds United for a bargain £2.75million
on 8th August 2002, after scoring twice in twenty-three starts and nine games from the bench
in the League, once in two starts and three games as substitute in F.A. Cup ties, one goal in
three starts and four from the bench in the League Cup and four goals in ten starts and four
substitutions in European and other games. The move saw the Hull-born player re-united with
Terry Venables, the man who groomed him at Spurs and handed him his England bow. Initially
bought to solve the problem of losing Lee Bowyer, unfortunately he was never a favourite of
the fans and was tarred with the same brush as Venables, but he never showed his England form
at Leeds. His Leeds career got off to a flying start, scoring in his debut against Manchester
City at Elland Road but it soon took a downward turn after he was injured in the warm up to
the game against his former club, Tottenham Hotspur, at White Hart Lane and he was sidelined
for several games. After Venables’ dismissal he was out of favour with Eddie Gray and Peter
Reid. After a loan spell with Nottingham Forest in February 2004, where he scored once in six
starts, he left for his hometown team, Hull City, after Leeds had lost their EPL status and
paid out his contract. Capped twenty-three times, ten of which were as a substitute, by
England, he won a League Cup, and a UEFA Cup Winners' Medal in 2000-01 with Liverpool and
after signing for them on 8th July 2004, he was a regular as Hull City gained promotion to
the CCCL in 2004-05 and he was part of their squad as they gained promotion to the EPL in
2007-08. Up to the end of the 2010-11 season he had scored twenty-five times for the Tigers
in ninety-eight starts and seventy-four games from the bench in the League, three times in
five starts and two games as a substitute in the F.A. Cup, once in four starts and two
substitutions in the League Cup and twice in three games in the play-off finals. With the
end of his playing career in sight, on 30th June 2010 the new Hull City Manager, Nigel
Pearson, announced that Barmby would take his first steps into coaching, as a member of his
coaching staff, which would be combined with his playing duties